Episode 17 TIPS
These are the TIPS that correspond with Higurashi no Naku Koro ni episode 17. Notebook Page 29 Satoshi-kun must've been very cunning, or blessed with luck, ...or perhaps it really wasn't him, but there wasn't any trail left at the crime scene that would point to Satoshi-kun as the culprit. Even then, at this point, it's almost certain that Satoshi-kun is the culprit. Just look at the situation of Satoshi-kun's family, and you'll find plenty of motives. He had no alibi either. Everything is there except material evidences. It was perfectly natural that Oishi would show up at this point to end the game. Although the appearance of a joker card like me was unexpected, it's not enough to overturn the overwhelmingly disadvantageous situation for Satoshi-kun. With an animal-like sense of smell, Oishi is already trying to pin it all on Satoshi-kun. All that's left is for him to wait until Satoshi-kun shakes and breaks on his own...... That's what I thought. And that's what Oishi thought too. A few days later, that whole table will get flipped over. I'll save the story about that for now, but in any case, Oishi's theory is going to fall through completely, and the police will get a knock out. In that case, then I have only one question. And that's "who saved Satoshi-kun?" For me at this point, I couldn't think of anything except that the Sonozaki family must've acted behind the scenes and made up a culprit. Brief rundown of Oishi's interview NOTE: Not a TIPS, but since the anime cut out Oishi's interrogation with Shion, here's a brief rundown of what was said during the interview: A. Houjou Satoshi disappeared. B. A huge amount of money was withdrawn from his postal-bank account on the day that he disappeared. C. The teddy bear at the store was gone. However, the store cannot recall whether it was Satoshi who bought it or not (The anime portrays the shop keeper as a young man. In the game, the shop keeper was an elderly man with signs of dementia.) D. If Satoshi acted accordingly, he would've: :1. Withdrew all the money :2. Went to the toy store to buy the big teddy bear for Satoko's birthday present :3. Since the present is huge and thinking how Satoshi really was looking forward to giving Satoko her present, he should've gone straight home. E. Steps 1 → 2 had to happen. Satoshi was working himself to death to surprise Satoko. He would never have thought to just abandon Satoko and take off. Since the teddy bear at the store was gone, Satoshi must've bought it. F. Hence, if Satoshi had disappeared, it would've been from Steps 2 → 3 G. Did Satoshi disappear? One hope is that there was a report at a train station in Nagoya that a kid fitting Satoshi's description came up and asked whether they have his wallet at the lost and found. When asked to write down his name, he started to write "Houjou," but stopped immediately, crumpled up the paper, and wrote a different name instead. Another station attendant at the same station saw a person fitting the exact same description jumping on the Shinkansen head-bound for Tokyo. It is a very slim hope, but Satoshi may still be alive, somewhere underneath these skies. H. But why? Why would Satoshi decide to leave Hinamizawa, leaving behind his sister that he cared for so much? Oishi's theory explained to Shion: A. Satoshi and Satoko were abused by their foster parents. It is inevitable that Satoshi might've had a breaking point. So let's say (Oishi stresses this as a theory, since he has no proof due to Shion's alibi) that Satoshi did kill Aunt Houjou Tamae. B. However, because of Shion's alibi, Satoshi was exonerated. C. Unfortunately the Sonozaki head, was highly displeased that a member of the Sonozaki would fall in love with a member of the traitor, Houjou. D. While Shion was able to redeem herself by breaking off her nails, Oryou may not have been satisfied. Shion did declare her love for Satoshi openly and proudly at the torture chamber. But once again, this is the Sonozakis. They must've known that Satoshi was the real killer of Aunt Houjou. It was unacceptable for a member of the Sonozaki to be in love with a troublemaker killer. So Oryou may have decided that she needed to teach a lesson once and for all so that Shion can forget about Satoshi. E. Oryou must've ordered the (literal) disappearance of Satoshi. F. However, Mion must've compromised to spare Satoshi. G. So, what would the Sonozaki's do to make Satoshi "disappear?" H. Now what if, (and Oishi stresses this again) the teddy bear was bought before Satoshi arrived at the toy store? I. Yes. That's a highly remote possibility. The teddy bear sat there all this time, while Satoshi eagerly looked at the window as he made and saved money to buy that bear for Satoko. Satoshi even reserved that bear with Shion's advice. What are the chances of the bear being bought on the day Satoshi was supposed to buy it? J. But we're talking about the Sonozakis here. If the local yakuza ganged up to the store, dumped a wad of cash for the bear, would the toy store refuse because it was already "reserved?" K. Now the teddy bear was gone. Satoshi, excited to buy the bear, looks into the window and sees......nothing. All his toil and sweat...for nothing. All he wanted to do was make Satoko happy. But, someone else bought the teddy bear. What a despair. Poor, poor Satoshi. What must it been like for him? His heart must've been ripped to shreds. He has never cried, but one can imagine him crying and screaming when he saw the teddy bear gone. Now all he has is a stash of cash in his hands that is practically useless to him... L. Sonozakis comes up to him: look, you have nothing - you don't belong here. But since we're kind, we're gonna let you live. But, you can't come back to Hinamizawa no more. We've set up a safe house for you in somewhere far away. Why don't you use that cash to get there? We'll promise to take of Satoko. The condition is - you gotta go. M. And that's how Satoshi left...in despair, leaving behind Satoko. With no present to give, being a killer, he must've felt that he had no way to show his face to Satoko. With Sonozaki's pity, he straddled to Okinomiya Station...to Nagoya...and onward to Tokyo. Notebook Page 34 The suspicious news of whether Satoshi-kun went to Tokyo has no proof. In the first place that news started off like this: At the window of the Nagoya Station’s Lost & Found, a distressed young man arrived asking for his wallet. Thereupon the station personal handed the man a form asking him to write his name down while the worker searched the inventory for such an item. Then the young man started to write Hojou, stopped and crumpled the form, taking a new one and wrote a completely different name. Another worker claimed to have seen a young man clothed similar to the man at the Lost & Found window rush on board a bullet train to Tokyo. It seems earlier at the locker room, the worker at the Lost & Found window described the suspicious person who came up to him and the worker at the platform claimed he also saw that person as well jumping on a bullet train heading towards Tokyo. ...that is all. The wallet reported by the man who named himself as Hojou was never received at the Lost & Found. Notebook Page 42 When Oishi told me his theory that the Sonozaki family would promise to look after Satoko if Satoshi were to move away, I thought that idea was ridiculous. But once I thought about this idea more carefully, it seems this theory is not so farfetched after all. For one, Houjou Satoko is now living with Furude Rika once she became all by herself. Furude Rika is also not just a little girl herself either. She is the current head of the Furude family gosanke. Furude Rika is also under the protective custody of the head of the Kimiyoshi family as well. Even though the Sonozakis would dare not keep a child from the Houjou under them, they did keep their word as Houjou Satoko is being cared for under the two gosankes. Given how much the they were denounced as traitors during the dam protests, it is unbelievable that a Houjou family member would be under the gosanke's protection. It's as if only Satoko was given amnesty for the crimes that the Houjou family had committed. Satoshi-kun was never given any amnesty. Why only Satoko? Notebook Page 26 I was struck in horror with the childishness of my actions. I just wanted to satisfy my loneliness, regardless of his feelings. When I think about it, I believe Satoshi-kun confronted me as a true gentleman would. But... whether I can forgive Satoko is another matter. Notebook Page 27 If I identify myself as Shion, I can save Satoshi-kun. Of course, I know the risk of identifying myself as Shion. If I identify myself here, I will 100% be detained by Oni-baba. But, I had no idea what I will face afterwards as a consequence. Notebook Page 43 Satoshi-kun disappeared. But, it was not only him that was eliminated. The reason why he disappeared was also eliminated. This is the world of man. Obviously, someone had to have eliminated them. I will not believe that he disappeared as an “Onikakushi.” Category:TIPS